United States


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United States of America

United States

or United States of America Abbr. US or U.S. or USA or U.S.A.
A country of central and northwest North America with coastlines on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It includes the noncontiguous states of Alaska and Hawaii and various island territories in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. The area now occupied by the contiguous 48 states was originally inhabited by numerous Native American peoples and was colonized beginning in the 1500s by Spain, France, the Netherlands, and England. Great Britain eventually controlled most of the Atlantic coast and, after the French and Indian Wars (1754-1763), the Northwest Territory and Canada. The original Thirteen Colonies declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776 and formed a government under the Articles of Confederation in 1781, adopting (1787) a new constitution that went into effect after 1789. The nation soon began to expand westward. Growing tensions over the issue of black slavery divided the country along geographic lines, sparking the secession of the South and the Civil War (1861-1865). The remainder of the 1800s was marked by increased westward expansion, industrialization, and the influx of millions of immigrants. The United States entered World War II after the Japanese attack (1941) on Pearl Harbor and emerged after the war as a world power. Washington, DC, is the capital and New York the largest city.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Unit′ed States′


n.
a republic in the N Western Hemisphere comprising 48 conterminous states, the District of Columbia, and Alaska in North America, and Hawaii in the N Pacific. 281,421,906; conterminous United States, 3,022,387 sq. mi. (7,827,982 sq. km); with Alaska and Hawaii, 3,615,122 sq. mi. (9,363,165 sq. km). Cap.: Washington, D.C. Abbr.: U.S., US Also called United States of America.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

United States

Includes the land area, internal waters, territorial sea, and airspace of the United States, including the following: a. US territories, possessions, and commonwealths; and b. Other areas over which the US Government has complete jurisdiction and control or has exclusive authority or defense responsibility.
Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. US Department of Defense 2005.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.United States - North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific OceanUnited States - North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776
multiple voting - the act of voting in more than one place by the same person at the same election (illegal in U.S.)
snake dance - a ceremonial dance (as by the Hopi) in which snakes are handled or invoked
reallotment, reapportionment, reallocation - a new apportionment (especially a new apportionment of congressional seats in the United States on the basis of census results)
trust busting - (law) government activities seeking to dissolve corporate trusts and monopolies (especially under the United States antitrust laws)
Boston Tea Party - demonstration (1773) by citizens of Boston who (disguised as Indians) raided three British ships in Boston harbor and dumped hundreds of chests of tea into the harbor; organized as a protest against taxes on tea
recall - the act of removing an official by petition
American Civil War, United States Civil War, War between the States - civil war in the United States between the North and the South; 1861-1865
water spaniel - any dog of two large curly-coated breeds used for hunting waterfowl
maquiladora - an assembly plant in Mexico (near the United States border); parts are shipped into Mexico and the finished product is shipped back across the border
slave market - a marketplace where slaves were auctioned off (especially in the southern United States before the American Civil War)
totem - emblem consisting of an object such as an animal or plant; serves as the symbol of a family or clan (especially among American Indians)
hooter, schnoz, schnozzle, snoot, snout, nozzle, honker, beak - informal terms for the nose
southernism - an attitude characteristic of Southerners (especially in the US)
shamanism - any animistic religion similar to Asian shamanism (especially as practiced by certain Native American tribes)
Social Security number - the number of a particular individual's Social Security account
joint resolution - a resolution passed by both houses of Congress which becomes legally binding when signed by the Chief Executive (or passed over the Chief Executive's veto)
Bill of Rights - a statement of fundamental rights and privileges (especially the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution)
Athabascan, Athapaskan language, Athabaskan, Athapascan, Athapaskan - a group of Amerindian languages (the name coined by an American anthropologist, Edward Sapir)
inaugural, inaugural address - an address delivered at an inaugural ceremony (especially by a United States president)
tart - a small open pie with a fruit filling
teacake - any of various small cakes or cookies often served with tea
partridge - flesh of either quail or grouse
cola, dope - carbonated drink flavored with extract from kola nuts (`dope' is a southernism in the United States)
combination in restraint of trade - (law) any monopoly or contract or combination or conspiracy intended to restrain commerce (which are illegal according to antitrust laws of the United States)
State Department - a department of government in one of the 50 states
department of the federal government, federal department, federal office - a department of the federal government of the United States
federation of tribes, tribe - a federation (as of American Indians)
NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization - an international organization created in 1949 by the North Atlantic Treaty for purposes of collective security
OAS, Organization of American States - an association including most countries in the western hemisphere; created in 1948 to promote military and economic and social and cultural cooperation
nation - a federation of tribes (especially Native American tribes); "the Shawnee nation"
independent agency - an agency of the United States government that is created by an act of Congress and is independent of the executive departments
IC, Intelligence Community, National Intelligence Community, United States Intelligence Community - a group of government agencies and organizations that carry out intelligence activities for the United States government; headed by the Director of Central Intelligence
county - (United States) the largest administrative district within a state; "the county plans to build a new road"
eastern United States, East - the region of the United States lying to the north of the Ohio River and to the east of the Mississippi River
middle west, Midwest, midwestern United States - the north central region of the United States (sometimes called the heartland or the breadbasket of America)
Pacific Northwest - a region of the northwestern United States usually including Washington and Oregon and sometimes southwestern British Columbia
2.United States - the executive and legislative and judicial branches of the federal government of the United StatesUnited States - the executive and legislative and judicial branches of the federal government of the United States
federal government - a government with strong central powers
executive branch, Executive Office of the President - the branch of the United States government that is responsible for carrying out the laws
legislative branch - the branch of the United States government that has the power of legislating
judicial branch - the branch of the United States government responsible for the administration of justice
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
Spojené státySpojené státy americké
de Forenede Stater
Yhdysvallat
États-UnisÉtats-Unis d’AmériqueÉtats-Unien
Sjedinjene Američke Države
Egyesült Államok
アメリカ合衆国合衆国米国
미국
Förenta staterna
ประเทศสหรัฐอเมริกา
Hoa KỳHợp chủng quốc Hoa Kỳ

United States

n the United States (of America)gli Stati Uniti (d'America)
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

United States

الوِلَاياتُ الـمُتَّحِدَة Spojené státy americké de Forenede Stater Vereinigte Staaten Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες Estados Unidos Yhdysvallat États-Unis Sjedinjene Američke Države Stati Uniti 米国 미국 Ver Amerikas forente stater Stany Zjednoczone Estados Unidos Соединенные Штаты Америки Förenta staterna ประเทศสหรัฐอเมริกา Amerika Birleşik Hợp chủng quốc Hoa Kỳ 美国
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
References in classic literature ?
He was often called the greatest lawyer in the country--corporation lawyer, of course; and no classification of the three greatest lawyers in the United States could have excluded him.
He described the international organization of the socialists that united the million and a half in the United States with the twenty-three millions and a half in the rest of the world.
But as the plan of the convention aims only at a partial union or consolidation, the State governments would clearly retain all the rights of sovereignty which they before had, and which were not, by that act, EXCLUSIVELY delegated to the United States. This exclusive delegation, or rather this alienation, of State sovereignty, would only exist in three cases: where the Constitution in express terms granted an exclusive authority to the Union; where it granted in one instance an authority to the Union, and in another prohibited the States from exercising the like authority; and where it granted an authority to the Union, to which a similar authority in the States would be absolutely and totally CONTRADICTORY and REPUGNANT.
This, I contend, is manifestly a concurrent and coequal authority in the United States and in the individual States.
Possibly, in that far future of peace and goodwill among nations, when each country does for all the others what it can do best, the United States may be generally recognized as the source of skill and authority on telephony.
The government of the United States began to view with a wary eye the growing influence thus acquired by combinations of foreigners, over the aboriginal tribes inhabiting its territories, and endeavored to counteract it.
The Ten Original Amendments to the Constitution of the United States Passed by Congress September 25, 1789 Ratified December 15, 1791
Yes, gentlemen, on that shield the Constitution of the United States was sculptured (by forms unseen, and in characters then invisible to mortal eye), the predestined and prophetic history of the one confederated people of the North American Union.
BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the thirteenth day of June, in the forty-seventh year of the Independence of the United States of America, Charles Wiley, of the said District, hath deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words and figures following, to wit:
The act from Annapolis recommends the "appointment of commissioners to take into consideration the situation of the United States; to devise SUCH FURTHER PROVISIONS as shall appear to them necessary to render the Constitution of the federal government ADEQUATE TO THE EXIGENCIES OF THE UNION; and to report such an act for that purpose, to the United States in Congress assembled, as when agreed to by them, and afterwards confirmed by the legislature of every State, will effectually provide for the same."
On the 20th of October, at a general meeting of the Gun Club, Barbicane produced a magnificent map of the United States. "Gentlemen," said he, in opening the discussion, "I presume that we are all agreed that this experiment cannot and ought not to be tried anywhere but within the limits of the soil of the Union.
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, Dockyards, and other needful Buildings;--And

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